ALEX Lesson Plans

Title: More than The Watsons Go to Birmingham
Description:
Although Christopher Paul Curtis 's The Watsons Go to Birmingham is a read for Social Studies and English Language Arts in Grades 6-8, it can easily addressed as a reading assignment for grades 9-12 depending on the end result(s) desired of the teacher. The study of Curtis' novel can be the primary text to foster a journey from poetry to fiction to music to history to food and finally, to writing. This novel makes references to the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church and the four little girls who perished that Sunday morning. This is a good lesson to study history, geography, and writing. Various discussions may arise in relationship to bullying, sibling rivalry, growing up, and Civil Rights.
This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (11) 31: Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used. [SL.11-12.3]

Subject: English Language Arts (11) Title: More than The Watsons Go to BirminghamDescription: Although Christopher Paul Curtis 's The Watsons Go to Birmingham is a read for Social Studies and English Language Arts in Grades 6-8, it can easily addressed as a reading assignment for grades 9-12 depending on the end result(s) desired of the teacher. The study of Curtis' novel can be the primary text to foster a journey from poetry to fiction to music to history to food and finally, to writing. This novel makes references to the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church and the four little girls who perished that Sunday morning. This is a good lesson to study history, geography, and writing. Various discussions may arise in relationship to bullying, sibling rivalry, growing up, and Civil Rights.
This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.

Title: Never Forget Birmingham's Morning Glories
Description:
Although The Watsons Go to Birmingham is a great read for Social Studies and English Language Arts students in Grades 6-8, it can easily be addressed as a reading assignment for Grades 9-12 depending on the end results desired of the teacher. Here, the teacher can travel back and forth from poetry to fiction to music to history to food, and finally to writing. This novel has references to the 16th Street Bombing and the four little girls who perished that Sunday morning. This is a good lesson to study history and geography with regard to writing.
This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (11) 31: Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used. [SL.11-12.3]

Subject: English Language Arts (11) Title: Never Forget Birmingham's Morning GloriesDescription: Although The Watsons Go to Birmingham is a great read for Social Studies and English Language Arts students in Grades 6-8, it can easily be addressed as a reading assignment for Grades 9-12 depending on the end results desired of the teacher. Here, the teacher can travel back and forth from poetry to fiction to music to history to food, and finally to writing. This novel has references to the 16th Street Bombing and the four little girls who perished that Sunday morning. This is a good lesson to study history and geography with regard to writing.
This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.

Title: Argument Essay Speed Dating
Description:
Students will use peer evaluations as a means of strengthening an argumentative essay. Student will revise essay and prepare the assignment for final submission.
This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (11) 23: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of the first three standards in the Language strand in Grades K-11.) [W.11-12.5]

Subject: English Language Arts (11) Title: Argument Essay Speed Dating Description: Students will use peer evaluations as a means of strengthening an argumentative essay. Student will revise essay and prepare the assignment for final submission.
This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.

Title: Understanding You: Using Understood You in Fiction Writing
Description:
In this lesson students will review the use of understood "you" in writing and create their own creative nonfiction essay using understood "you" as the narrative technique.
This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (11) 23: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of the first three standards in the Language strand in Grades K-11.) [W.11-12.5]

Subject: English Language Arts (11) Title: Understanding You: Using Understood You in Fiction WritingDescription: In this lesson students will review the use of understood "you" in writing and create their own creative nonfiction essay using understood "you" as the narrative technique.
This is a College- and Career-Ready Standards showcase lesson plan.

Title: The Truth About Slavery
Description:
As an introduction to The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, the class will see what slavery was like in the deep South as well as in the Colonial South. As the autobiography is discussed, the students will read other texts and see some video relating to the Transatlantic Slave Trade, The Civil War, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (11) 26: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation. [W.11-12.8]

Subject: English Language Arts (11) Title: The Truth About SlaveryDescription: As an introduction to The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, the class will see what slavery was like in the deep South as well as in the Colonial South. As the autobiography is discussed, the students will read other texts and see some video relating to the Transatlantic Slave Trade, The Civil War, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln.

Title: Research Project: American Heroes - Collaborative Education
Description:
This lesson is designed to help students of all backgrounds learn to work together in groups to complete a research paper assignment. This is a collaborative based lesson plan that challenges students to work together to complete the assignment as a warm-up to the individual research paper required at the end of the term. It is a technology-based lesson with student presentations and student guided research. It is a cross curriculum based lesson with areas of history and technology integrated within the lesson's content.
Standard(s): [SS2010] CWI (9-12) 5: Analyze cultural elements, including language, art, music, literature, and belief systems, to determine how they facilitate global understanding or misunderstanding.

Subject: English Language Arts (11), or Social Studies (9 - 12), or Technology Education (9 - 12) Title: Research Project: American Heroes - Collaborative EducationDescription: This lesson is designed to help students of all backgrounds learn to work together in groups to complete a research paper assignment. This is a collaborative based lesson plan that challenges students to work together to complete the assignment as a warm-up to the individual research paper required at the end of the term. It is a technology-based lesson with student presentations and student guided research. It is a cross curriculum based lesson with areas of history and technology integrated within the lesson's content.

Title: Holocaust Research Project
Description:
Students will create a slide presentation in cooperative learning groups proving that the Holocaust did indeed occur.
Standard(s): [SS2010] US11 (11) 10: Describe the impact of World War II on the lives of American citizens, including wartime economic measures, population shifts, growth in the middle class, growth of industrialization, advancements in science and technology, increased wealth in the African-American community, racial and ethnic tensions, Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (G. I. Bill of Rights), and desegregation of the military. [A.1.b., A.1.c., A.1.d., A.1.e., A.1.g., A.1.i., A.1.k.]

Subject: English Language Arts (11), or Social Studies (11), or Technology Education (9 - 12) Title: Holocaust Research ProjectDescription: Students will create a slide presentation in cooperative learning groups proving that the Holocaust did indeed occur.

Title: Pennies for your Future!
Description:
This is a hands-on activity that is designed to guide students through the process of finding and applying for scholarships. Students will use word processing software to write and submit a scholarship that is applicable to them.
This lesson plan contains a financial aid component.
Authors: Mona Coan and Stefanie Weaver
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (12) 23: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of the first three standards in the Language strand in Grades K-12.) [W.11-12.5]

Subject: Business, Management, and Administration (9 - 12), or English Language Arts (9 - 12) Title: Pennies for your Future!Description: This is a hands-on activity that is designed to guide students through the process of finding and applying for scholarships. Students will use word processing software to write and submit a scholarship that is applicable to them.
This lesson plan contains a financial aid component.
Authors: Mona Coan and Stefanie Weaver

Title: Writing a Persuasive Essay
Description:
In this lesson students research opposing viewpoints on controversial issues and develop their own position papers. Though primarily for English classes, this lesson could be easily adapted for an interdisciplinary unit with social studies or science classes.
Standard(s): [TC2] CA2 (9-12) 11: Critique digital content for validity, accuracy, bias, currency, and relevance.

Subject: English Language Arts (10 - 12), or Technology Education (9 - 12) Title: Writing a Persuasive EssayDescription: In this lesson students research opposing viewpoints on controversial issues and develop their own position papers. Though primarily for English classes, this lesson could be easily adapted for an interdisciplinary unit with social studies or science classes.

Title: Is Romance Dead?
Description:
As an introduction to the medieval romances, students compare and contrast the medieval rules of courtly love to the modern "rules" of courtship and romance. Students write a compare/contrast essay after group work and class discussion.
Standard(s): [TC2] CA2 (9-12) 11: Critique digital content for validity, accuracy, bias, currency, and relevance.

Subject: English Language Arts (10 - 12), or Technology Education (9 - 12) Title: Is Romance Dead?Description: As an introduction to the medieval romances, students compare and contrast the medieval rules of courtly love to the modern "rules" of courtship and romance. Students write a compare/contrast essay after group work and class discussion.

Title: American Historical Fiction Journal
Description:
In this American literature (1900-2000) creative research paper project, each student creates an original work of American historical fiction using his/her knowledge of the research process. Students identify and address the ways culture, technology, and social customs are reflected in American literature from 1900 to the present.
Standard(s):

Subject: English Language Arts (11), or Technology Education (9 - 12) Title: American Historical Fiction JournalDescription: In this American literature (1900-2000) creative research paper project, each student creates an original work of American historical fiction using his/her knowledge of the research process. Students identify and address the ways culture, technology, and social customs are reflected in American literature from 1900 to the present.

Thinkfinity Lesson Plans

Title: Teaching the Epic through Ghost Stories
Description:
In this lesson, students connect to the oral tradition of epic storytellers by sharing their own oral tales of ghosts and goblins and monsters.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (12) 23: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of the first three standards in the Language strand in Grades K-12.) [W.11-12.5]

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Teaching the Epic through Ghost StoriesDescription: In this lesson, students connect to the oral tradition of epic storytellers by sharing their own oral tales of ghosts and goblins and monsters.Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: 9,10,11,12

Title: Avoiding Sexist Language by Using Gender-Fair Pronouns
Description:
Students engage in a brief writing assignment that concretely illustrates how language and gender stereotyping interact causally.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (12) 37: Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. [L.11-12.3]

Title: Walt Whitman's Notebooks and Poetry: The Sweep of the Universe
Description:
In this lesson, from EDSITEment, students read the poetry of Walt Whitman to determine how he attempts to combine universal themes with individual experiences and feelings. Additionally, students reflect on how Whitman used his experiences in the Civil War in his poetry.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (11) 33: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest. [SL.11-12.5]

Subject: Arts,Language Arts,Social StudiesTitle: Walt Whitman's Notebooks and Poetry: The Sweep of the UniverseDescription: In this lesson, from EDSITEment, students read the poetry of Walt Whitman to determine how he attempts to combine universal themes with individual experiences and feelings. Additionally, students reflect on how Whitman used his experiences in the Civil War in his poetry.Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEmentGrade Span: 9,10,11,12

Title: Dramatizing History in Arthur Miller's ''The Crucible''
Description:
In this EDSITEment lesson, students consider how Arthur Miller interpreted the facts of the Salem witch trials and how he successfully dramatized them in his play, The Crucible. Students examine some of Miller's historical sources: biographies of key players and transcripts of the Salem Witch trials themselves. The students also read a summary of the historical events in Salem and study a timeline. The students then read The Crucible itself.
Standard(s): [SS2010] US10 (10) 2: Compare regional differences among early New England, Middle, and Southern colonies regarding economics, geography, culture, government, and American Indian relations. [A.1.a., A.1.b., A.1.d., A.1.g., A.1.i.]

Subject: Arts,Language Arts,Social StudiesTitle: Dramatizing History in Arthur Miller's ''The Crucible''Description: In this EDSITEment lesson, students consider how Arthur Miller interpreted the facts of the Salem witch trials and how he successfully dramatized them in his play, The Crucible. Students examine some of Miller's historical sources: biographies of key players and transcripts of the Salem Witch trials themselves. The students also read a summary of the historical events in Salem and study a timeline. The students then read The Crucible itself.Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEmentGrade Span: 9,10,11,12

Title: Renaissance Humanism in Hamlet and The Birth of Venus
Description:
After reading Shakespeare's Hamlet, students identify, analyze, and explain how elements in Botticelli's painting Birth of Venus and examples from the play illustrate the philosophy of Renaissance Humanism.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (12) 40: Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. [L.11-12.6]

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Renaissance Humanism in Hamlet and The Birth of Venus Description: After reading Shakespeare's Hamlet, students identify, analyze, and explain how elements in Botticelli's painting Birth of Venus and examples from the play illustrate the philosophy of Renaissance Humanism.Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: 9,10,11,12

Title: Paying Attention to Technology: Exploring a Fictional Technology
Description:
Students complete a short survey to establish their beliefs about technology. They compare their opinions to the ideas in a novel that depicts technology (such as 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 ).
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (12) 33: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest. [SL.11-12.5]

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Paying Attention to Technology: Exploring a Fictional TechnologyDescription: Students complete a short survey to establish their beliefs about technology. They compare their opinions to the ideas in a novel that depicts technology (such as 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 ).Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: 9,10,11,12

Web Resources

Informational Materials

Title: Tips for Using Peer Editing
Description:
Tips and strategies for implementing a peer editing program as a tool for editing, revising, and improving student writing
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (12) 23: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of the first three standards in the Language strand in Grades K-12.) [W.11-12.5]

Teacher Tools

Title: Tips for Using Peer Editing
Description:
Tips and strategies for implementing a peer editing program as a tool for editing, revising, and improving student writing
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (12) 23: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of the first three standards in the Language strand in Grades K-12.) [W.11-12.5]

Thinkfinity Learning Activities

Title: On the Road author Jack Kerouac embarked on his first cross-country road trip in 1947.
Description:
Students read a section from On the Road that deals with cross-country travel and reflects Kerouac's unique writing style. Students then attempt to write a narrative using Kerouac's stream-of-consciousness style.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (12) 28: Write routinely over extended time frames, including time for research, reflection, and revision, and shorter time frames such as a single sitting or a day or two for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. [W.11-12.10]

Title: Patriot Day is celebrated today on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 2001.
Description:
Students write about the name '' Patriot Day'' and how it marks the anniversary of a huge disaster. An alternative assignment could be to ask students to record their reflections about 9/11.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (12) 23: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of the first three standards in the Language strand in Grades K-12.) [W.11-12.5]

Title: Black Poetry Day is celebrated.
Description:
Books and webpages are gathered that focus on the work of African American poets and students explore the resources and find a poem to contribute to a poetry reading.
Standard(s): [ELA2013] (11) 32: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks. [SL.11-12.4]

Subject: Language ArtsTitle: Black Poetry Day is celebrated.Description: Books and webpages are gathered that focus on the work of African American poets and students explore the resources and find a poem to contribute to a poetry reading.Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThinkGrade Span: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12